Qoala, an Insurance Startup Received Fund of IDR 209 Billion

Startup in insurance technology (insurtech) Qoala announced the series A funding of US $ 13.5 million or around IDR 209 billion that they received today. Telkom Indonesia and Centauri Fund, a joint venture company of Kookmin Bank from South Korea led this investment to Qoala.

There are new investors are involved in this funding round, such as Kookmin Bank Investments, Flourish Ventures, Sequoia India, Mirae Asset Sekuritas, and Mirae Asset Venture Investment.

Their previous investors including Central Capital Ventures from Bank Central Asia (BCA), Surge, MDI Ventures, SeedPlus, and Southeast Asia MassMutual Ventures also participated in this funding.

Centauri Fund Managing Partner Kenneth Li said the company was confident in the innovation offered by Qoala. Besides that, the growth of Indonesia’s middle class is considered potential and insurance needs are expected to increase.

“Qoala is the answer to this insurance innovation challenge. That is the main reason we are leading the Series A round through the Centauri Fund as our first investment,” Li said in a press release on Tuesday (28/4).

Principal Sequoia Capital in Singapore, Pieter Kemps is optimistic that the funding will strengthen Qoala’s position as a leading insurtech company in Indonesia.

Founder and CEO Qoala Harshet Lunani said the funding made him more optimistic to get more people to use insurance services. “And facilitate access to insurance for everyone,” he said.

The Investment Will be used by the Company to Innovate

This startup company provides digital solutions through collaboration with insurance brokers. This is to support the marketing of traditional insurance products offline, which currently covers 99% of insurance premiums.

More than 2 million policies per month have been processed by the company within a year. The number jumped from 7,000 policies per month in March 2019. The company also expanded its services to cover five core industries namely tourism, financial technology (fintech), retail, logistics and employee health.

Qoala co-founder Tommy Martin said the funding would be used to invest in technology, Human Resources (HR), and brands so that they could support the company’s strategy.

Moreover, with the corona pandemic and the enactment of Large-Scale Social Restrictions (PSBB), according to him, innovation in the insurance industry is increasingly needed. Qoala also cooperates with insurance companies to provide protection services that include the risk of contracting Covid-19 for consumers, as well as Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Indonesia.

“Although most people have been protected by BPJS, this insurance product will provide additional benefits beyond those borne by the government,” he said.

Qoala Has Partnered with Many Well-Known Companies

The startup has partnered with several companies such as GrabKios, JD.ID, Shopee, Tokopedia, Investree, PegiPegi and RedBus, and MAP Group. Qoala applies a go-to-market approach, which is supported by more than 20 insurance companies such as AXA Mandiri, Tokio Marine, Great Eastern, ACA, Adira, and BRI Life.

Tommy had mentioned, there were three main problems that led to the adoption of insurance in the country under the average of other countries. First, reach. Second, insurance products are often regarded as something expensive and only for the upper-middle class. Finally, the insurance claim process is manual and takes a long time.

“There is a perception that insurance companies make claims difficult,” Tommy said during a visit to the Katadata office last January. To overcome these three problems, Qoala presents an automatic insurance service and can be accessed via a smartphone.

The insurance claim process was carried out without having to fill out forms manually. “The fastest claim we can complete in 10 seconds. This is until the premium is paid in the hands of consumers,” the Public Relations Senior Manager Qoala, Prisca Niken, said.